Richard Henry Pratt informs the Office of Indian Affairs that he desires a hospital that is purposely designed to be a hospital, isolated from the rest of the school, and on higher ground. He requests to spend $4,550 to construct a new hospital housing 12 beds south of the South Barracks. Pratt encloses several documents.
First, Surgeon General J. J. B. Wright states that the Carlisle Barracks needs to build a new hospital and should not repair the current hospital in any way because it is "utterly unfit." Second, there is an excerpt from Circular No. 4, page 64 that states that the current hospital will always be a "public nuisance" because its location is too low, leading to "marshy" conditions and frequent flooding of the grounds, not to mention its proximity to the sewer drainage. Third, another letter from Surgeon General Wright stating that the current hospital was built after the Barracks was burnt down by the Confederates and was only ever meant to be temporary. He again says that the building is totally unfit to be a hospital due to its location, construction, and history of being overcrowded with disease. Fourth, a cover letter from Wright enclosing the previous two reports, which he had written years prior.
Note: This item was copied from U.S. National Archives microfilm reels (M234), which were filmed from the original documents found in Record Group 75, Entry 79, "Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, 1824-80."
